You having the finances to afford this is largely the reason you’re able to do this. Others likely don’t have the finances to do so, so they need assistance from their children. Most Americans are not able to afford what you’re doing (like, even for themselves, if we’re being honest, let alone for their children), so I would suggest you withhold judgement.

I was just taught it to “pop goes the weasel”.

720.0…01

Tried to find the repeating symbol somewhere to copy, it didn’t work

I was at the optometrist explaining the streaky lights AS I WAS WALKING OUT WITH A PRESCRIPTION FOR MY ASTIGMATISM and the doc was like “you were probably squinting, causing that effect”. Bro

Thank you for keeping me honest. I’ll update

Morpheus’ last line in the movie is “Is this real?” People have taken it and run with it. That coupled with the Oracle’s explanation that choice was the key to the current matrix’s success led people to believe that both the matrix and “the real world” are matrix instances and that the only way out would be to realize that fact and then reject the system wholesale. It also explains why Neo’s abilities still work in the real world as well. And again, explain the fucking batteries line.

The robots don’t want conflict between humans, they want humans to accept their false reality without question. That allows them to keep as many humans as possible. A utopia (from a machines idea of utopia, mind) wouldn’t be the most seamless thing. If everyone around you gets whatever they want and there’s no interpersonal friction from that, it wouldn’t stand up to scrutiny. Putting thought into it would reveal that something must be putting its finger on the scale in order to cause this result. That would wake people up to the fact that this isn’t reality.

They even over corrected with the second matrix and made humans these cowering things to the monsters that went bump in the night. That’s where the maravangian and his pals come from. The issue with that one is humans in constant fight-or-flight are hard to control, so they eventually do things that cause them to awaken as well.

Someone who is trans has a built-in reason to question their reality if they’re kept in their biological body (“why do I feel like I should’ve been born a girl”, etc). So, by putting them in the body that matches their perception, the machines reduce conflict between the system and humans. Reduces the likelihood that any one person has any reason to question that their reality is real.

Smith is a character in the world. He’s explaining things as he understands them, but most importantly in order to break Morpheus and get him to give them the info they want. He’s trying to get him to buy into the idea that the machines are superior to humans.

The real world is messy, gritty, real. The matrix is what humans want for themselves. A reality that most of us can accept without issue. We see this time and again in the matrix movies.

How does what I said run counter to the metaphor?

Bruh. Think through the thought for a moment before you dismiss it as something that wasn’t thought through. People with gender dysphoria often question their existence. The robots don’t want people to do that, cause they’ll start finding the seams. So yeah, everyone meshed with their gender (assuming it could fit within the binary parameters of the 90s) because the matrix wants to be as stable as possible.

She was a woman in the matrix because the robots wanted as little possibility for people to question their existence, so everyone identified with their own images. There was no gender dysphoria in the matrix unless you were nonbinary.

As first time relatively green directors, the studio had a lot of say over what they got to include. Often to the story’s detriment. Humans were originally processors instead of batteries (which makes a fuck ton more sense)

“We were going to approve your release”

Love that movie. Just a simple, fun adventure.

If you have an infection, totally appropriate. The issue is that a good amount of doctors will prescribe antibiotics just to make it seem like they’re doing something for you. While that effect of being treated will help through the placebo effect, the use of antibiotics when it isn’t necessary reduces the amount of time we collectively have for antibiotics to be effective.

Link to a study about it

No, yes bones about it.

A skant wouldn’t work as a Winnie-the-Pooh costume. Sorry.

(The urge to preemptively explain my joke is nigh overwhelming with this one, but I think I might resist)

chipmunk on cocaine noises that sounds vaguely like words

Oh yeah, I totally understand

“There’s never been a rock-off that I ever lost”

Fiddling doesn’t count, ya see.

Gonna say it. That’s a terrible idea. Dreams are random data streams based on what is being stored into long-term memory as you sleep. Being able to witness dreams is not something you want. Experiencing dreams while they’re happening is cool, sure, but being a passive witness to the madness in your skull is not going to be a pleasant time. That’s not even including being able to view other people’s dreams. The accusations of infidelity. Nope, let’s open that pandora’s box.

Am baffled by the inclusion of ai in this comment, though. Feels… out-of-place? Like trying to predict the future, badly. Like retro-futurism.

No, the t isn’t silent. It’s just a Japanese sound. Tsu (つ) is the character, and there is a “T” sound in there. The TS sound is the same one at the end of “that’s” or “its”.

English speakers just say it wrong.